Coming up next: Gartner's 2018 Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends

Gartner recently revealed their 2018 Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends and, we don't know about you, but we're pretty excited about the trends that will be revealing themselves in the near future, as well as the trends that will become even more prominent in 2018. And what's even more exciting is that MetaViewer is on the cusp of many of these trends.

Here's what's coming up, ready or not!

Artificial Intelligence: AI might still seem like a pipe dream but, the reality is, artificial intelligence is gaining in popularity. Even companies that aren't yet using it are starting to gather the information and data to make it part of their business plan in the near future. In fact, Gartner found "that 59% of organizations are still gathering information to build their AI strategies, while the remainder have already made progress in piloting or adopting AI solutions." Ready or not, here it comes!

Smart apps and intuitive analytics: According to Gartner, in the next few years every app and service and software application will incorporate AI into their technology. While many many may see this as the beginning of the replacement of human employees in some aspects of business, intelligent apps actually enhance human activity, making tasks more efficient and accurate and providing better insight into data and analytics.

Smart everything else: Your phone isn't the only thing that is smarter than you these days - smart devices incorporate everything from houses to washing machines, televisions and clothing. This is a trend that isn't expected to slow down in the coming years. In fact, Gartner says that, "As intelligent things proliferate, expect a shift from stand-alone intelligent things to a swarm of collaborative intelligent things. In this model, multiple devices will work together, either independently or with human input."

Digital twins: A digital twin is exactly what it sounds like; it is an exact copy or representation of a system or entity that exists in the "real world." Think Internet of Things. Digital twins are linked with their real-life counterparts and provide insight into how they're performing, respond to changes and improve the efficiency of operations. The possibilities are endless for this type of technology, including the future ability to link not just to "things," but to humans to gather medical data and beyond.

Edge computing: It seems like just yesterday the world was blown away (and a little freaked out) by the development of cloud computing. Well, hold onto your hats, there's a new type of computing in town that does not compete with, but actually enhances cloud computing. Edge computing is a method of performing data processing at the edge of the network, near the source of the data. The cloud and the edge work hand-in-hand. "When implemented together, cloud is used to create the service-oriented model and edge computing offers a delivery style that allows for executions of disconnected aspects of cloud service."

Conversational platforms: "Alexa, what is the temperature in Antarctica today?" That's right, we're expecting to see more Alexa-like technology in the near future. And not only that, but we're expecting that they'll get even more advanced. It's even anticipated that conversational platforms will be able to perform such actions as collecting oral testimony from crime scene witnesses and acting on that information. This could include creating a sketch of the suspect’s face based on the information it gathers from the testimony. "Alexa, collect oral testimony!"

Immersive experience: Experiences like playing a video game and traveling are changing with the emergence of things like virtual and augmented reality. The digital world becomes physical, creating a shift in the user's experience from something invisible to something immersive. "Over the next five years the focus will be on mixed reality, which is emerging as the immersive experience of choice, where the user interacts with digital and real-world objects while maintaining a presence in the physical world."

Blockchain: Remember Bitcoin? Tech companies are going beyond Bitcoin and using the technology for something referred to as "blockchain." Blockchain allows parties to exchange commercial transactions - everything from cryptocurrency to records and contracts. Information on a blockchain exists as a shared database, meaning that the blockchain database isn’t stored in any single location and making the records public and easily verifiable. Millions of computers host it at the same time so the data is accessible to anyone on the internet, but since there is no centralized version of the information, it cannot be corrupted by hackers. If Google Docs popped into your mind, then you're on the right track! This is the beginning of blockchain technology.

Event-driven: Digital business moments and events constitute changes or updates to a document or system. This could include something like the completion of a purchase order or the submission of an invoice. The result of a business event is an action, and today's technology and the technology of the future will continue to build on this trend. Here's a crazy statistic from Gartner: "By 2020, event-sourced, real-time situational awareness will be a required characteristic for 80% of digital business solutions, and 80% of new business ecosystems will require support for event processing."

CARTA: Continuous Adaptive Risk and Trust (CARTA) is a natural result of changing and more complex technology that is disrupting and creating a need for enhanced security. "CARTA allows for real-time, risk and trust-based decision making with adaptive responses to security-enable digital business." This means using people-centric security rather than firewalls and control. Protecting against insider "attacks" means having a trust-based system and encouraging developers to develop their own security measures.

Excited to see these trends continue to come to fruition in 2018? Want to delve even deeper into Gartner's research? Learn more about developing strategic technology trends for 2018 here!